Re-James Montgomery

Hi Bob,
Thanks for writing about James Montgomery Band. I had totally forgotten those guys. It was one of the first records I produced with Tom Dowd. We cut much of the record at Phil Walden’s Capricorn studios in Macon – that was a long time ago.
Best,
--albhy galuten
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James went to the same HS as me here in Grosse Pointe, MI. He comes back from time to time. I have backed him up on local gigs and consider him a friend. His late brother Jeff was a local gay rights activist and his brother John was a VP at I think Epic? He has great stories of the record biz and the majors and he came home to raise a family.
James is a great entertainer, and has all kinds of showmanship! He toured heavily with Johnny Winter.
Thanks for bringing him up! That Capricorn record was a favorite when I was in HS!
RJ Spangler
Grosse Pointe Park
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I was a sophomore at Tufts University in the Fall of 1971 living in Carmichael Hall. It was an all men’s dorm and the Animal House of Tufts.
I had seen James and his band at my friend’s frat at MIT and was totally blown away by his act.
My roommate and I decided to try our hand at concert promotion, so we hired James and the band for $100 to play in the common room of the dorm. He absolutely killed it.
Over the years since, I have seen James many times and we always joke about that gig. He insists that we gave him $200 but I don’t think so.
I do remember that the band came back to our room after the set and smoked at least $200 of weed, so maybe we are both right.
Cheers, Will Vogt
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I was on the concert committee at Penn State in the late 70s. Penn State is in the middle of nowhere but it’s a big school so we managed to get good shows. I remember Van Morrison on the Wavelength tour with Rockpile opening. We had The Kinks, the Grateful Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band, David Grisman, Utopia, Hall and Oates, Poco (you didn’t mention the excellent A Good Feeling to Know), Graham Nash, Graham Parker, John Hall, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny, Charlie Byrd, Talking Heads, Gregg Allman playing with the Nighthawks. We booked Elvis Costello on the Trust tour but there was a big snowstorm and they cancelled multiple dates. Speaking of Mahavishnu, we even had John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Paco de Lucia. These are just the bookings I remember. I imagine I’m leaving out a few.
One of my favorite stories is about Bo Diddley. He was booked to play an outdoor music festival I was in charge of. He was a little prickly at first. The first thing he said was he wasn’t going on until he was paid. He was great once I paid him.
Music is my passion. Live shows are the best. There is nothing like being anywhere in the building at a show. I wish I had had the courage to pursue a career in it.
Harold Love
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James is my neighbor. Super nice guy, I park my car behind his JMBB license plates often. Plays locally in Rhode Island and Connecticut frequently. He’s still great!
Larry Webman
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Saw James and his hot band open for J Geils in Long Island around 1975. He plays free shows for the city of Boston every summer. Was just here a few weeks ago. Hasn’t lost a step.
Check Your Bucket was played all the time by Stoneman on WPLR back in the day. Was sorry I never got to see Duke and The Drivers live but still play that record in the car.
Ira Sperling
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Pure magic, thanks for asking Tom to provide that gift. You left Midd a little too early. I got to see B.B. King and Jackson Browne in the chapel and the Rolling Thunder Revue at UVM.
Michael March '77
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When The Malibooz went to college, we changed our name to Sageworth. After college, Walter Egan took the band to Boston where they did many, many nights with James Montgomery band. James was the man on harp and I can see he still is. He used to wear a fishing utility belt when he performed. Each loop of the belt contained a different harp; that way he could switch keys very quickly and effortlessly. I’ve really never seen anyone else do that before or since.
By the way, Sageworth also did a bunch of shows with Duke and the drivers as well. I just saw Tom Swift from the band last September and the boys are still out doing it , there’s no money in it anymore. We know that, but some people just do it for the magic.
Best,
John Zambetti
The Malibooz
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Hey Bob, when my band Sageworth played in Boston in 1972-73 we were managed by the same people who managed the James Montgomery Band. We got to see them close-up and get to know them. What a great band!
And James was always a great friend to us.
Thanks for giving him some notice.
Walter Egan
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You’re right about how some of us got started in the music biz—and how loose it was. I got my start at Michigan State by becoming the poster artist for the student government’s concert organization. Within a year, I was its chairman, running what was really a million dollar operation, booking and running dozens of shows every year. Other than being a pretty good poster artist, and a serious music freak, I had ZERO experience. Thankfully, my five years at the helm were quite successful and lots of fellow students and colleagues went on to make their marks in the music business. Those were the “daze.”
PS. In fact, James Montgomery’s brother, Jeff, was a member of that committee for awhile!
Hugh Surratt
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Saw James Montgomery in Omaha Ne in about 1976 or so opening for Jefferson Starship. His band blew me away . Ran out the next day to the local record shop in Lincoln Ne ( Dirt Cheap) and found his album (which I still have someplace) Listened to it a lot. Then like a lot of acts, never heard from him again. I think about that band a lot more than I should and now , thanks to you, I know the story. Great job ,Bob, finding these folks after all these years!
ceetee
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In my college days, 70-74, I was like a vacuum when it came building my LP collection. At the CCNY bookstore there were record bins which always attracted my attention, which is how I became one of the relatively few owners of the Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page LP before Peter Grant(?) had it quickly pulled from the shelves.
One day I saw two LPs that I decided to take a chance on. Already a devotee of Al Kooper, I picked up the eponymous Lynyrd Skynyrd, their first. Seeing his name and the album cover both intrigued me enough to drop ~$3.00 on it. And First Time Out by The James Montgomery Band. I knew nothing of either of these, but in those days that was merely a minor criterion.
And I couldn’t get enough of either of these two discs, both exceptional. I really loved and still do love First Time Out, and figured this band would be going somewhere, although their followup was a disappointment and they soon disappeared from national exposure as I recall. But that initial release was something that my ears could not get enough of. Jump Blues I suppose is the category that it fell under. Pretty much most all the cuts were delicious and addictive, still to this day. This band knew how to lay down a bass groove and work from there.
One doesn’t need to get past I’m Funky, But I’m Clean and/or Going Down to understand where they were coming from. But if this title is still available, please do yourself a favor, give a listen to the entire LP and you will be richly rewarded.
Alan Fishman
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I was a huge fan of the Allmans and anything on Capricorn records! The Capricorn release of JMB is one of my favorites. Back in the early 2,000s I was able to find and buy a copy of it on CD much to my delight! Hard rockin’ blues and R&B. My favorite track starts at 11:30 “If You Want Me.”
I saw them open for the Allmans in ~ 74 (?). Had never heard of em’. They jammed, and I do mean jammed on “Train” “Drive myself Crazy” and the other tunes. I couldn’t believe how f*cking good these guys were. Incredible dynamics! They were killer!!! I was gob smacked…(!)
JMB “First Time Out” link below:
youtu.be/rtPB8uCYnrg
Tim Pringle
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The track I’m Funky But I’m Clean is pretty funky!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EFW3pIjK18
Kevin Kiley
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I Can’t Stop (No, No, No)
One of my favorites that a band I was in ages ago did. I’ll spare you the cover, and I apologize for the quality. I couldn’t find it anywhere other than my 30 year old iTunes rip.
Pamela Arnold
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Love the mention of college concert boards! College radio also a gateway drug to getting into the biz I'd have to guess...
My bridge/training wheels for the music biz was joining the Vanderbilt Programming Board committee in the fall of 05 to book Rites of Spring the next semester. Helping get my new (at the time) favorite band My Morning Jacket (currently still my favorite band half a life later) that year was (and still is) one of the peak experiences of my time here. A little known frat/bar circuit group called Zac Brown Band played very early in the same day. The next year I co-chaired and we had The Roots, Wolfmother, Drive-By Truckers, Amos Lee among others.
Fun tale: I was in a booking meeting when our grad advisor was going through booking inquiries / CD packages and asked the three of us running Rites booking if we wanted to sign up this virtually unknown teenage starlet with a demo single called "Tim McGraw" for pennies. We, being the ripeage of 20/21 or so, decided she was too young and in no way refined or hip enough for our highly developed music tastes/festival we envisioned and passed. Whoops.
I only lasted a few years in the music biz before moving on to my current world/industry, but look back at that whole experience above everything else I was paid to do in the several years that followed bouncing around the industry, what a ride!
Thanks Bob,
Wesley Hodges
freelance music journalist / former music biz hack / lawyer
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Your comments brought back the memories... I worked on the shows in college because there was a lot I wanted to see, and needed them to come to me in Troy, NY if possible. Rensselaer was in a good position between NYC and Buffalo, so we had a pretty good selection. Freshman year I saw Chicago, Mahavishnu Orchestra with Jean-Luc Ponty, Frampton's Camel, and some more. My strongest memory is of the show we were not allowed to put on because the financial people thought it too risky. The show offered was Mott the Hoople, with a tour opening on Broadway, NYC. They had a new opening act on its first US Tour, and that band was my primary interest: Queen. Queen's first album doesn't get much air play but is fantastic. So the accountants won the day and the show bypassed us on its way to the rest of the country. The memory still brings a deep sigh about "what could'a been".
Amazing how music brings life into focus. I am about your age, and we had an incredible soundtrack for the world and our lives.
Cheers.
Todd Jackson
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I always love your stories about Middlebury. I went to St. Lawrence (1967-1971) where I was Coffee House Chairman and then Concert Chairman.
After college, I became a Lecture and Literary agent, which I am to this day.
I do identify with how hard it was to get A+ entertainment to an out-of-the-way college. We did have Jethto Tull, The Box Tops, Chuck Berry,
and The Chambers Brothers while I was there. Clarkson (10 miles away) had The Happenings, The Foundations, Jefferson Airplane (on acid),
Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, and The Yardbirds (Page using the violin bow), among others.
Unfortunately, just prior to my becoming Chairman, we also were forced to contract for Every Mothers Son.
I booked Townes Van Zandt for one week of shows, which was a highlight. Hanging with Townes was a trip.
Also, I booked Seatrain for February 1971 and Boz Scaggs for 2 shows on his first tour (Moments LP) in May 1971.
It was a 525 seat theater and I convinced the Student Activities Director that we would sell out. We paid
$1100 total for 2 shows. Tickets were $1.50.
Just as with many other events in my life, we lost money. I graduated 3 weeks later and never looked back!
At my 50th reunion, several of my classmates thanked me for bringing Boz to campus.. Lifelong fans of an artist do that.
Nevertheless, the musicians were all cool, very nice to us students and I cherish the memories. Also, they gave the illusion
of "not mailing it in", which we appreciated.
Tony Colao
Easthampton, MA
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That brings back some memories. I believe I’m the same age/graduation year as you—Brandeis University 1974. Back in the day, the James Montgomery Blues Band was a regular at Brandeis’ coffee house, Cholmondeley’s (pronounced “Chumley’s). My friends and I saw them quite a few times; we even travelled once into either Boston or Cambridge (I don’t remember which) to see them perform. I remember they did get signed and put out an album, which went nowhere, and their major label career was over. I’m glad to hear he’s still around and doing well.

Speaking of on-campus concerts, in those days, the only performance space suitable for a rock band that could seat more than about 150 people was the gym. Our first year, we went to see Mountain there. The sound was so horrible that we passed on going the next year to see the act that came in, a “local act” that none of us had heard of—Aerosmith.
Don Friedman
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I went to school in Boston at Brandeis in the mid-70’s. James Montgomery was all over WBCN, and I really enjoyed the music. I especially loved Duck Fever, with its parody of a duck in the John Travolta white Saturday Night Fever suit and a big yellow bill.

Paul Kaytes
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Bob, In the fall of 1971, maybe your junior year at Middlebury, Mahavishnu Orchestra opened for The Byrds at the University of Vermont. Blue Oyster Cult was also on the bill, sandwiched in between. Did you make the 30 mile drive north for that show? I never served on the concert bureau but did own a nightclub called Hunt’s in Burlington, Vermont post graduation from UVM. James Montgomery and his band played there many times and we booked Tom Rush, like clockwork, twice a year. He always sold out four shows over two nights with a $5 ticket! I won’t tell you what we paid Tom but the club only had 140 seats in its earliest incarnation so you can do the math. Saw Tom last summer at the Barre Opera House and he still puts on a great show. Chico Lager
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Sounds like you kids at Middlebury didn't know how to have fun. During my years in Boston and we had our share of bands that hit it big, but the ones that didn't still had value. One of the most under appreciated on a larger scale was James Montgomery, so good on you for giving him some ink. I saw him not long ago in Boston, he's still amazing. But music is more than name acts and exceptional talent, it can be about a good time. Duke and the Drivers were nothing but fun. Now I'm talking about the first couple of years and the album on ABC which may have been before your college run. Just a great house band if you like to boogie. The Modern Lovers don't get enough props, punk before anybody knew what punk was.
John Brodey
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James Montgomery has always been the real deal. My friend Barbara Holliday sang a lot with him over the years.
As for Taj Mahal's first album and his "Statesboro Blues," there is no better version. I saw him on a tiny workshop stage at the Newport Folk Festival, with his band including Jesse Ed, in 1968 and he blew me away. I got the album as soon as I got home. I was there at the Fillmore East when the Allmans did it, and theirs is a great version, I mean how could it not be with Duane's playing. But I'm sticking with Taj.
I remember ALL those bands you mentioned, saw pretty much all of them at one time or another.
Toby Mamis
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When The Allman Brothers went to LA for the first time the band that knocked them out was The Rising Sons, Ry and Taj's band, and one of their staples was Statesboro Blues arranged about like the version on Taj's first album, an album that gives me the same thrill today it did 50 odd years ago. The Allmans heard it and the rest is history.
Phil Brown
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I had the absolute joy of hearing James Montgomery play nearly every month during my time at BU. In fact, a friend of mine (hello, Peter) and I snuck into the student government structure and started putting on “Ballroom Boogies” in the student union ballroom. They grew to the point that the real student government “took over” (the money) and tried putting them on in the larger gym. And then booked Aerosmith instead of James, and it was all over. Aerosmith were aiming for MTV stardom before there was MTV, and it showed in their playing as well as their stance. James Montgomery wanted to play. And still does, as you rightly note.
David Frail
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Thanks for filling my afternoon with the 3 versions of Statesboro I have. All great but Blind Willie brought a tear….probably for all the old blues guys….from them it always feels more like life than performance.
Keep writing, I’ll keep reading.
Joan Grayson SF
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I started out working the Orpheum in Boston for Don Law 1971 as usher ticket taker security stage hand and stage manager. All the great bands in a 2842 seat theater..Steely Dan Kinks Queen and everybody else ...James Montgomery was the local band that rocked. We used to see them in the basement at Brandys
With Bonnie Roomful of Blues James Cotton…sometimes after 2am with the door locked. Aerosmith was playing on the street outside BU ...Bruce at Joes in Cambridge and then opening up for Bonnie at the Music Hall ...Little Feat on Halloween 2 shows first one was on WBCN unbelievable . Lots of great shows. I have been doing this for over 50 years now. I eventually, after touring with Eagles Joni CSN Neil and many more as a lighting designer and tech, ended up being Brian Murphy’s Head Production manager at Avalon for 13 years.
…I did sneak into the Fillmore on closing night, even have the poster..ended up in Bill’s office. rolling a keg in the front door with the caterers…Woodstock ,Concert for Bangladesh and many more.
Sometime I feel like Forest Gump with all the great moments I have seen…
Always a pleasure
Danny O'Bryen
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Fifty States of Freedom was on the third Brewer & Shipley album.
John Hughes
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I was surprised to see you mention Illinois Speed Press. Paul Cotton’s partner in that project was Kal David. Kal went on to form the Fabulous Rhinestones with bassist Harvey Brooks. Then Kal spent the rest of his career singing and playing the blues, and doing it quite well. I was fortunate to catch a great benefit show in Willimantic CT with Kal teamed up with James Montgomery and keyboard wiz Mike Finnegan (who introduced Gregg Allman to the Hammond B-3). Sadly, James us the only one of the three still with us.
Bob Levy
Branford CT
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On several occasions during my days in the radio business I worked with both James Montgomery and Tom Rush. They are truly great men and really incredible artists. We are very blessed here on the East Coast to have them living and performing regularly here.
Jack Casey
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I remember seeing James Montgomery at Ed Burke’s on Huntington Ave in Mission Hill. What a show from a quintessential bluesman!
I must say, Tom looks very comfy at home on Cape Anne on a Sunday afternoon. Why tour when you can hang out at home in your slippers and have your friends come over to jam?
Thanks, Ed
Ed Fleck (MRG shareholder)
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I have been a loyal subscriber for many years now. In all those years this is the first time I have seen you straight-out disrespect a working Rock n Roll Band. Unfortunately, it was my band.
I had 12 wonderful years with Duke and the Drivers. In 1973 when we got the Middlebury gig that you said was a “loser show”, we were just breaking out of the clubs having only finished at Boston University the year before. A new band. Working up a show.
I don’t remember much about the Middlebury gig, but I do remember that we got paid $1,200.00 to drive up from Boston, unload our own equipment and set it up, do a 90-minute set, break it all down, then, stuff all the equipment and ourselves in two station wagons and drive the three and a half hours back to our communal barn outside of Boston to save the motel expense and, that we were thrilled that we each got $100.00 for the show after expenses.
Over the next several years, when we were not doing a show, we were rehearsing, every day. We went on to record with Eddie Kramer at Electric Lady Studios, had good chart action, and recorded a second record in L.A. with Producer Deke Richards. In those days, the labels gave real cash tour support so we could play every roadhouse from Boston to Cleveland to Los Angeles and even a stint as the “House Band” at the old Starwood Ballroom on La Cienega Blvd. The Salt Palace in SLC with Deep Purple was a memorable show. Later, Tommy Bolan with whom I made friends, came, and jammed with us at the Bottom line in New York Unfortunately, it was his last appearance on stage before he died.
It is the camaraderie with other working bands that makes it all so special. Duke did a series of gigs with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. During our soundcheck at a shed somewhere. Southside boys ran onto the stage and pushed over all our equipment and then ran off. We laughed and laughed backstage. We called them “Juke Joint Johnny and the Jersy Joy Boys,” they called us “Puke in the Driveway.” We were tight and we honored each other. It’s the best feeling.
Duke did at least 50 shows with James Montgomery who I still count among my favorite friends and Maybe 20 shows with Aerosmith all over the US. Steven, Joe, and Brad especially remain friends, we are all still very fond of each other. Of course, Peter Wolf, Seth, Danny and Steven Jo came on stage with us numerous times, we played the Boston Garden together.
We did a show one evening with James Cotton, I remember him telling the venue owner, “These boys can stop on a dime and give you nine cents change.” We still use his tagline in our Spotify description. Our show got super tight, we had 3 frontmen, a lot of theatrics, and always a full house with our rowdy fans. Duke holds the record for the highest liquor sales ever at Legendary Paul’s Mall. You may recall that our fans were so crazy they tore out the ceiling after the show.
I’m proud of the determination that drove us to rehearse and record and rehearse again which enabled us to hold the #1 spot at WMMS for 2 weeks and gain “Hot 100” action. We accomplished a lot as far as we are concerned; we were a working Rock N’ Roll Band. What is better than that?
The work ethic we developed (sometimes 8 shows in a week) carried a lot of weight. I would never have been able to complete Law School without it that experience.
That is the true legacy of a working band. The collective energy to entertain and perform and the identification as a member of a tribe of hard-working traveling performers which includes the sound engineers, lighting directors, drivers, roadies and producers, and the folks like you who oversee, analyze and report on the state of the world we live and work in.
There are thousands of us out there right now, in garages and rehearsal spaces, playing the VFW lounges and the small colleges. Spending hours and years working up a show and giving it all to Rock N Roll. Maybe they will never fill a stadium or have a platinum record, but it is a musical tradition that deserves all of our respect as the backbone of the genre.
Duke is still at it in our own way, still best friends. We are even releasing a workup of re-mastered and previously unreleased live tracks this summer “Showtime” a fun-filled project meant to keep us in touch and involved. We love it. Here’s a link to a Boston Globe Article written when we had our reunion summer. archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/11/15/the_boys_and_the_band/
I have always felt through my limited correspondence with you over the years, that you too are a member of that tribe I mentioned. So, to read from you, whom I have so long respected and enjoyed, such a seriously harsh comment is amazingly hurtful. Bob, you are one of us, like it or not even if you hated the show 50 years ago at Middlebury College.
Still a fan:
Tom Swift
(Mad Mississippi Buffalo)
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Poco, Tom Rush, Duke and the Drivers, James Montgomery... Your post felt like a history of my booking career. At some point, I represented all four, and we still represent Tom.
James Montgomery has always been a great guy - talented, funny, warm, honest, hard worker - and, sadly, a very underappreciated talent.
Thank you for remembering and for shining your spotlight on James.
Bruce Houghton
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Thanks for the shoutout, Bob. If you liked this week's Rockport Sundays posting, you're going to LOVE the one that goes up this Sunday — James Montgomery and me again, jamming on Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" and Sleepy John Estes' "Drop Down Mamma".
Best,
Tom Rush
Rockport Sundays
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